The Miniaturist (2017)
12-month trend
12-month trend
Monthly article views
2025-09 to 2026-08
A young woman moves into a wealthy merchant's home in 17th-century Amsterdam, only to receive mysterious miniatures that seem to predict the family's secrets.
The story
In 17th-century Netherlands, a young country girl named Petronella "Nella" Oortman moves into a house along one of Amsterdam’s exclusive canals. She married the wealthy merchant Johannes Brandt to pay off her family’s debts. While Johannes is a charming gentleman, he provides her with a dollhouse cabinet and a cold reception from his pious sister, Marin. Soon, Nella begins receiving unsolicited miniatures for her dollhouse, each accompanied by a mysterious note predicting events within the household. As she navigates the complexities of her new life among the wealthy merchant class, she begins to uncover the hidden tensions and secrets of the Brandt family.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 17th-century Netherlands, Petronella "Nella" Oortman marries Johannes Brandt, a wealthy merchant, to clear her family's debts. She moves into his canal house, where she is met with indifference from Johannes and hostility from his sister, Marin. Johannes gives Nella a dollhouse, and she begins receiving mysterious miniatures from an unknown source that predict the family's inner workings. The narrative reveals that Johannes is in a secret same-sex relationship with Jack Philips, a crime punishable by death. When Jack tries to attack Marin, he is wounded by the servant Otto. Frans Meermans, a businessman, accuses Johannes of bribery and attempted murder. Meanwhile, Marin reveals she was in love with Frans but chose to remain 'Domina' of the house. Marin eventually dies during a painful delivery of a baby who is actually Otto's daughter. Nella attempts to sell sugar and bribes a priest to bury Marin. Johannes is eventually arrested and sentenced to death by drowning for being a sodomite. Nella eventually discovers that the Miniaturist is a woman who has been following her, but the woman vanishes when confronted.
- First release year
- 2017
- Runtime (minutes)
- 157
- Production countries
- United Kingdom
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Guillem Morales
- Writers
- John Brownlow · writer
- Cast and characters
- Anya Taylor-Joy · Petronella "Nella" Brandt; Romola Garai · Marin Brandt; Alex Hassell · Johannes Brandt; Hayley Squires · Cornelia; Paapa Essiedu · Otto; Emily Berrington · The Miniaturist; Geoffrey Streatfeild · Frans Meermans; Aislín McGuckin · Agnes Meermans
- Genres
- Drama; Supernatural; Historical
- Themes
- Secrets; Social Class; Marginalization; Hope; Change
- Tone and mood
- Historical; Dramatic; Raw
- Premise and plot tags
- Historical Drama; Mystery; Period Piece
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
- Reception
- The series received generally favorable reviews, with praise for its production design and costuming, though some critics felt the characters lacked depth and the pacing was slow.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 69 · scale: 100 · review count: 7; IndieWire · score: B
- Production trivia
- The series was filmed in Leiden to stand in for Amsterdam.; The dollhouse in the story was depicted in a painting by Jacob Appel in 1710.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…